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Posted: April 2, 2026 (0 days ago)

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Education Program Specialist

Smithsonian Institution

Other Agencies and Independent Organizations

Fresh

Location

Salary

$70,623 - $91,815

per year

Closes

April 15, 2026

GS-7 Pay Grade

Base salary range: $41,966 - $54,557

Typical requirements: 1 year specialized experience at GS-6. Bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement or 1 year graduate study.

Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).

Job Description

Summary

This job involves managing volunteers and tour guides at the National Museum of African American History and Culture to help visitors learn about African American history through in-person and online experiences.

The role includes recruiting, training, and coordinating these volunteers while designing and evaluating educational programs for the museum.

It's a great fit for someone passionate about education, history, and community engagement, with experience in volunteer coordination or program development.

Key Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in education or a relevant subject field, or equivalent combination of education and experience
  • One year of specialized experience at GS-7 level or equivalent, including recruiting, managing, training, and coordinating volunteers and docents
  • Experience designing, implementing, and evaluating educational programs
  • Knowledge of volunteer management and interpretive guiding for museum visitors
  • Ability to handle both in-person and online educational experiences
  • Meet time-in-grade requirements if currently in federal service (52 weeks at GS-6 or equivalent)

Full Job Description

The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo.

This position is in the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), Office of the Deputy Director, Education Department.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a national museum for the study and exhibition of African American history and culture. Education Required: 1.

Degree: that included or was supplemented by major study in education or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position. or 2.

Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major in education, or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position, plus appropriate experience or additional course work that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study described above.

In addition to the basic qualification requirement above: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal Service.

For this position, specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience recruiting, managing, training and coordinating volunteers and docent tour guides, designing, implementing and evaluating educational programs.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience.

Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Or Education: 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S.

accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications; For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards.

In an effort to streamline our hiring process, SI employees whose current position of record is in the same job series 1701 and who are in a Federal Competitive as this advertised position, are not required to submit a transcript with your application package.

However, if selected, you will be required to provide a copy of your transcript before your start date in the position.

Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).

Major Duties:

The Education Program Specialist is responsible for recruiting/placement, managing, training, and coordination of volunteer docents and interpretive guides to facilitate superior visitor experiences of the permanent collection and exhibitions both in person and online.

In this position, you will: be responsible for the maintenance and updating of the museum's Docent Volunteer Program.

be responsible to Smithsonian Institution in establishing and implementing NMAAHC-specific volunteer policies.

be responsible for managing an annual budget to ensure financial resources are efficiently allocated to support volunteer initiatives and program development.

oversee the development of the museum's public tour offerings, which demands a deep understanding of museum education, African American History, and the teaching of history to adults.

facilitate staff's volunteer needs and train staff on volunteer procedures.

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Posted on USAJOBS: 4/2/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 4/2/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: 26R-DT-313753-MPA-NMAAHC